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‘Sculling sloth’ pulls in new fans by the boatload

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CROWD have gathered at the foot of the London Eye. They are clamouring to meet an Olympic hero. But it is not Bradley Wiggins, Sir Chris Hoy or Jessica Ennis.

Hamadou Djibo Issaka, the 35-year-old “sculling sloth” from Niger, is being mobbed.

“Mummy!” screamed Besola, 15, from London. “It’s the rowing guy!”

Issaka crawled his way into the public consciousness when he finished a painful 100 seconds behind the winner in a rowing heat at Eton Dorney last week. He was cheered on by thunderous applause from the crowd and screams of “You can do it!” from the commentator as he laboured through the 2km course.

To quell any uncertainty about his rowing prowess, Issaka went on to finish 33rd out of 33 in the finals on Friday. He tells me he was awake until 5am worrying about what might happen.